Juvenile bathtub with water-rinse system

ABSTRACT

A juvenile bathing system includes a bathtub and a child support having a water reservoir with a backrest for supporting the child and a spray system coupled to the water reservoir including a sprayer and a pump. The child support can be positioned in a reclined position or in an upright position within the bathtub.

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/941,501, filed Jun. 1, 2007, whichis expressly incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to a juvenile bathing system and, inparticular, to apparatus for supporting a juvenile in a bathing positionin a bathing environment. More particularly, the present disclosurerelates to a juvenile bathing system including a spray rinse system forbathing an infant or small child.

SUMMARY

According to the present disclosure, a juvenile bathing system includesa child support having a spray system and a water reservoir providing abackrest for a child in multiple bathing environments such as, forexample, in a juvenile bathtub, an adult bathtub, or a sink.

In illustrative embodiments, the juvenile bathing system includes achild support including a spray system and a water reservoir providing abackrest. The child support is configured to be mounted in a juvenilebathtub or to allow for use in an adult bathtub or sink. The spraysystem is configured to mate with the water reservoir and to include aspray head, a fluid line, and a reservoir pump. When used in a juvenilebathtub, the child support is oriented to lie in the bathtub in either areclined position or an upright position. A soft flexible sling may beadapted to mate with the water reservoir to define a portion of thechild support.

Additional features of the disclosure will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art upon consideration of the following detaileddescription of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode ofcarrying out the disclosure as presently perceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figuresin which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a juvenile bathing system inaccordance with the present disclosure comprising a child supportincluding a spray system and water reservoir and suggesting that thewater reservoir provides a backrest for the child in multiple bathingenvironments, for example, in a sink or adult bathtub as suggested inFIG. 3, in a reclined position in a juvenile bathtub as suggested inFIG. 4, or in an upright position in a juvenile bathtub as suggested inFIG. 5;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an illustrative embodiment ofthe juvenile bathing system of FIG. 1 showing a child support includinga water reservoir and a backrest, a juvenile bathtub adapted to receiveand mate with the child support, a soft flexible sling overlying thebackrest, a standoff adapted to mount on an upper end of the waterreservoir and adapted to lie on a counter near a sink as suggested inFIG. 3 or against the rim of a juvenile bathtub as suggested in FIG. 4,and a spray system configured to mate with the water reservoir and toinclude a spray head, a fluid line, and a reservoir pump, and showingthat the water reservoir is formed to include left and right anchorsconfigured to mate either with a forward set of anchor sockets formed inthe juvenile bathtub to establish the reclined position of the childsupport as suggested in FIGS. 4, 6, and 7A or a rearward set of anchorsockets formed in the juvenile bathtub to establish the upright positionof the child support as suggested in FIGS. 5 and 8;

FIGS. 3-8 show the child support of FIG. 2 in different bathingenvironments while showing the sling overlying the backrest in a mannershown, for example, in FIGS. 9-12;

FIG. 3 illustrates the child support of FIG. 2 as it is being placed ina sink so that the standoff is arranged to rest on a lip of a sink whilethe water reservoir is located in the sink and the bottom of the waterreservoir is in contact with the sink bottom;

FIG. 3A illustrates the child support of FIG. 2 as it is being placed inan adult bathtub so that the standoff is arranged to rest on a rim ofthe adult tub while the water reservoir is located in the tub and thebottom of the water reservoir is in contact with the tub bottom;

FIG. 4 shows the child support of FIG. 2 mounted in a reclined positionin the juvenile bathtub;

FIG. 5 shows the child support of FIG. 2 mounted in an upright positionin the juvenile bathtub;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the juvenile bathing system of FIGS. 2-5taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 4 showing the child support in the juvenilebathtub and the standoff in engagement with a rim of the juvenilebathtub when the child support is mounted in the reclined position;

FIG. 7A is a sectional view taken along line 7A-7A of FIG. 6 showinginsertion of the right anchor formed in the water reservoir in the rightforward anchor socket formed in the juvenile bathtub;

FIG. 7B is a rear elevation view of the child support taken along line7B-7B of FIG. 6 in a juvenile bathtub in a reclined position as shown inFIGS. 4 and 6, the water reservoir being secured to the rim of thejuvenile bathtub by a tether strap threaded through a standoff anchor inthe standoff and through a tub anchor in the rim of the juvenilebathtub;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the juvenile bathtub taken along line 8-8of FIG. 5 showing the child support in the juvenile bathtub and thestandoff arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to the rim of thebathtub;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the child support of FIG. 2, wherein asoft flexible sling is arranged to overlay the backrest and thestandoff, the sling includes a backrest pad and a crotch pad, the slingis secured to the standoff by a plurality of buttons on the standoff incooperation with corresponding button holes on the sling, a sling strapextending around the rear portion of the water reservoir, and asuspension loop for hanging the child support in an inverted position todrain a bathing liquid from the water reservoir as suggested in FIG. 12;

FIG. 10 is a bottom view of the child support of FIG. 9 showing thesling strap positioned about the back of the water reservoir; and

FIG. 11 is a top plan view of the child support of FIG. 9 after thechild support has been inverted by hanging upside down from a suspensionloop on the sling and after the pump and fluid line have been removed toallow water to drain from the interior region of the water reservoirthrough a reservoir filling port and a water outlet port.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A juvenile bath system 10 includes a child support 12 including a waterreservoir 14 and a spray system 18. As shown in FIG. 2, the waterreservoir provides a backrest 16 for the child in multiple bathingenvironments, for example, in a sink 24, as suggested in FIG. 3, oradult bathtub 26, as suggested in FIG. 3A, or in a reclined position ina juvenile bathtub 22 as suggested in FIGS. 4 and 6, or in an uprightposition in a juvenile bathtub 22 as suggested in FIGS. 5 and 8. A softflexible sling 20 may be provided to overlay backrest 16 as shown inFIGS. 9-11. As best shown in FIG. 7A, water reservoir includes a chamber60 defined by a body 58. Child support 12 also includes a spray system18 having a sprayer 83 and a pump 94 as shown in FIG. 2. Child support12 also includes a standoff 66 to provide additional support, forexample, resting against a sink rim 78 when used in a sink as shown inFIG. 3, or resting against a rim 82 of an adult bathtub 26 as shown inFIG. 3A, or resting against a rim 36 of a juvenile bathtub 22 as shownin FIGS. 4, 6, and 7B.

A juvenile bath system 10 is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1, includinga child support 12 and a sling 20 adapted to be mounted on child support12. Child support 12 has a water reservoir 14 including a backrest 16and a spray system 18. Sling 20 may be attached to water reservoir 14 toprovide a soft covering for water reservoir 14 and support for a childusing child support 12. Juvenile bath system 10 may be adapted for usein a juvenile bathtub 22, a sink 24, or an adult bathtub 26.

Juvenile bath system 10 may include a juvenile bathtub 22 adapted toreceive and mate with child support 12, as suggested in FIG. 2. Juvenilebathtub 22 includes a base 28 supporting a floor 30. A side wall 32 isintegral with and extends upwardly from floor 30 about its perimeter.Side wall 32 having an upper end 34 terminating in a rim 36. Rim 36defines an opening 38 into an interior region 40. Juvenile bathtub 22also includes mounting members such as left and right forward sockets42A, 42B and left and right rearward sockets 44A, 44B within side wall32. Child support 12 includes mounting members such as left and rightanchors 46A, 46B adapted to mate with either the forward sockets 42A,42B in a reclined position as shown in FIG. 4 or the rearward sockets44A, 44B in an upright position as shown in FIG. 5.

Child support 12 includes a water reservoir 14 having a backrest 16 anda spray system 18. Water reservoir 14 includes a body 54 having an upperend 56 and a lower end 58. A chamber 60 is defined within body 54 ofreservoir 14 as shown in FIG. 7A. A fill port 62 and an outlet port 64,each in communication with chamber 60, are provided at upper end 56 ofreservoir 14.

A standoff 66 may be attached to upper end 56 of reservoir body 54 toprovide stability for child support 12 in multiple use environments.Standoff 66 may be attached to reservoir body 54 by snap fit or othersuitable means. The illustrative embodiment shown in FIG. 2 isconfigured to define apertures 68, 70 adapted to receive and couple tofill port 62 and outlet port 64, respectively. Standoff 66 may alsoinclude a support leg 72 having a foot portion 74 at its lower end.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, child support 12 may be used in a sink 24.Lower end 58 of reservoir 14 is placed in sink 24 resting on sink bottom76 and foot portion 74 of standoff 66 is supported on sink rim 78. Thus,child support 12 is maintained in a reclined position. Similarly, whenchild support 12 is used in an adult bathtub 26 as illustrated in FIG.3A, lower end 58 rests on tub bottom 80 and foot portion 74 of standoff66 is supported on tub rim 82.

Spray system 18 includes a sprayer 83 and a reservoir pump 94. Sprayer83 includes a fluid line 84 having a first end 86 and a second end 88and a spray head 90 attached to first end 86 of fluid line 84. Secondend 88 of fluid line 84 is inserted into chamber 60 of water reservoir14 through outlet port 64. A connector 92 is provided to secure fluidline 84 within outlet port 64. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2,connector 92 may be configured to seal outlet port 64. Fluid line 84 isarranged to pass through connector 92.

Reservoir pump 94 is coupled to fill port 62 of reservoir 14. In theillustrative embodiment of FIG. 2, reservoir pump 94 includes a handle96 and a piston 98 coupled to handle 96. Reservoir pump 94 is used tointroduce air into and pressurize chamber 60 of reservoir 14. Forexample, pump 94 may be of a hand-operated piston kind as illustrated,or may be of other suitable configuration. With sprayer 83 attached tooutlet port 64, a caregiver, for example, may fill water reservoir 14and insert pump 94 into fill port 62. The caregiver then may pump airinto water reservoir 14 to pressurize chamber 60 and force water throughfluid line 84 and out through spray head 90. The pump 94 or the waterreservoir 14 may include a pressure relief valve 99 in communicationwith the chamber 60 adapted to exhaust air to the atmosphere if thechamber 60 is over pressurized, such as above, for example, fifteenpounds per square inch of pressure. Spray head 90 may include a shut-offvalve 91 operated by a button, a handle, or similar means, to turn onand off water flow selectively to spray and rinse a child.

Sling 20 may be fitted about child support 12 over backrest 16 toprovide support for a child using child support 12. Sling 20 includes abody 100 configured to overlay backrest 16. A sling strap 102 isprovided to secure sling 20 in place about body 54 of reservoir 14.Sling strap 102 is positioned around water reservoir 14 oppositebackrest 16 and sling body 100. Sling 20 may also be formed to includeapertures 104, 106 located to receive fill port 62 and outlet port 64respectively.

Sling 20 may also include a plurality of button holes 104 configured tocooperate with buttons 107 on standoff 66, as illustrated in FIGS. 7Band 9. Sling strap 102 may have a single-piece construction comprisingan elastic material allowing strap 102 to be stretched about body 54.Alternatively, sling strap 102 may be of a two-piece construction, eachpiece being positioned around body 54 and secured by a fastener (notshown) such as a hook-and-loop fastener, buckle, clasp, slide, clip,snap, hook, or other appropriate fastening means.

Child support 12 may be used in a sink 24 or in an adult bathtub 26 assuggested in FIGS. 3 and 3A. Although child support 12 is illustratedwithout sling 20, for clarity, sling 20 may be used in sink 24 and adultbathtub 26 environments in addition to use with a juvenile bathtub 22.

Sling 20 may also include a seat pad 108 attached to a lower end 110 ofsling body 100 and configured to extend beyond the lower end 58 of waterreservoir 14. Seat pad 108 is configured to rest on floor 30 of juvenilebathtub 22. Similarly, when child support 12 is used in otherenvironments, seat pad 108 may also rest on sink bottom 78 or adultbathtub bottom 80. Seat pad 108 provides a cushioned seating surface fora bathing child. Additionally, a crotch pad 112 may be provided, coupledto seat pad 108 opposite sling body 100 and positioned to have the legsof a bathing child on either side, to prevent the child from slidingdown into juvenile tub 22, adult bathtub 26, or sink 24.

Sling 20 may also include a hanger 114 that allows the sling 20, aloneor in combination with child support 12, to be suspended from a hook 118or other support as illustrated in FIG. 11. In the illustrativeembodiments of FIGS. 2, 10, and 11, hanger 114 comprises a fabric loopattached to a lower end 116 of sling 20. As shown in FIG. 1, pump 94 andfluid line connector 92 may be removed, leaving fill port 62 and outletport 64 open, and child support suspended upside down by hanger 114.This configuration allows water to drain from cavity 60 of reservoir 14through fill port 62 and outlet port 64 after use.

Referring to FIGS. 6 through 8, child support 12 may be used incooperation with juvenile bathtub 22 in a reclined position asillustrated in FIG. 6 or an upright position as illustrated in FIG. 8.Child support 12 may be used in cooperation with juvenile bathtub 22 ina reclined position as illustrated in FIG. 6. In the reclined position,anchors 46A, 46B on child support 12 are received by and coupled toforward sockets 42A, 42B, respectively. The illustrative embodimentshown in FIG. 7A shows a detailed view of right forward socket 42A as aspherical segment in side wall 32. Anchor 46A is also shown as aspherical segment in reservoir body 58 configured to mate with andcouple to socket 42A. Sockets 42B, 44A, and 44B, and anchor 46B areconfigured similarly, though not shown.

Referring again to FIG. 6, child support 12 configured in a reclinedposition, defines a first angle 120 between backrest 16 and floor 30 ofjuvenile tub 22. A medial edge 122 of support leg 72 and a rear surface124 of reservoir 14 form a notch 126 to receive and rest on rim 36 ofjuvenile tub 22 providing additional stability for child support 12.

As illustrated in FIG. 7B, a standoff tether 128 may be provided tocouple positively child support 12 to juvenile bathtub 22 when childsupport 12 is in the reclined position. Standoff tether 128 is fedthrough standoff anchor 134 and tub anchor 136 formed in rim 36 securingstandoff 66 to juvenile tub 22.

In the illustrative embodiment shown in FIG. 7B, standoff tether 128comprises a flexible tether strap 130 and a fastener 132. Tether strap130 may be constructed from woven nylon web material, fabric, or othersuitable materials. Likewise, fastener 132 may comprise hook-and-loopfastener, a side-release buckle, clasp, or other suitable means andstill be within the scope of the present disclosure.

Child support 12 may be used in cooperation with juvenile bathtub 22 inan upright position, as illustrated in FIG. 8. In the upright position,anchors 46A, 46B on child support 12 are received by and coupled torearward sockets 44A, 44B, respectively. When child support 12 isconfigured in an upright position, a second angle 138 is defined betweenbackrest 16 and floor 30 of juvenile tub 22. Second angle 138 is smallerthan first angle 120, resulting in child support 12 having backrest 16oriented more vertically in the upright position than in the reclinedposition. In the upright position, notch 126 is located above and spacedapart from rim 36. Lower end 58 of reservoir 14 is supported on floor 30of juvenile tub 22. Rear surface 124 of reservoir 14 is supportedagainst upper edge 34 of side wall 32.

Juvenile bathtub 22 may also include additional features such as a drain48 in floor 30 and a drain plug 50 for selectively opening and closingdrain 48. Floor 30 may be configured to slope towards drain 48, as shownin FIGS. 6 and 8, to assist flow of water out of juvenile bathtub 22.Drain plug 50 may be coupled to floor 30 by a hinge 52, allowing fororientation of drain plug 50 between an open position and a closedposition.

1. A juvenile bathing system comprising a bathtub and support means forsupporting a child in the bathtub with a reservoir of water that isadapted to be sprayed on the child.
 2. The juvenile bathing system ofclaim 1, wherein the support means comprises a child support including awater reservoir and a backrest.
 3. The juvenile bathing system of claim2, wherein the water reservoir includes a body defining a chamberadapted to receive water, a fill port in communication with the chamber,and an outlet port in communication with the chamber.
 4. The juvenilebathing system of claim 2, wherein the child support includes a spraysystem coupled to the water reservoir.
 5. The juvenile bathing system ofclaim 4, wherein the spray system includes a sprayer coupled to thewater reservoir and a pump coupled to the water reservoir.
 6. Thejuvenile bathing system of claim 5, wherein the pump includes ahand-operated piston adapted to introduce air into the water reservoirand pressurize the water reservoir.
 7. The juvenile bathing system ofclaim 2, further comprising a standoff attached to an upper end of thewater reservoir adapted to provide stability to the water reservoir inmultiple use environments, the standoff further comprising a support leghaving a foot adapted to support the upper end of the water reservoir,the support leg being adapted to form a notch with the water reservoir,and the notch being adapted to receive a rim of the bathtub.
 8. Thejuvenile bathing system of claim 2, further comprising a tether adaptedto couple the child support to the bathtub.
 9. The juvenile bathingsystem of claim 2, further comprising a sling adapted to mate with thewater reservoir, the sling including a body configured to overlay thebackrest of the water reservoir.
 10. The juvenile bathing system ofclaim 9, wherein the sling includes a seat pad at the lower end of thebody of the sling adapted to extend beyond a lower end of the waterreservoir to provide a seating surface for the child.
 11. The juvenilebathing system of claim 9, wherein the sling includes a crotch pad atthe lower end of the body of the sling adapted to prevent the child fromsliding down into the bathtub.
 12. The juvenile bathing system of claim9, wherein the sling includes securing means for securing the body ofthe sling to the water reservoir.
 13. The juvenile bathing system ofclaim 12, wherein the securing means comprises a strap adapted to bepositioned around the water reservoir.
 14. The juvenile bathing systemof claim 12, wherein the securing means comprises one or more buttonholes in the body of the sling and each button hole is adapted toreceive a button coupled to the water reservoir.
 15. The juvenilebathing system of claim 12, wherein the securing means comprises a firstaperture in the body of the sling adapted to receive a fill port of thewater reservoir and a second aperture in the body of the sling adaptedto receive an outlet port of the water reservoir.
 16. The juvenilebathing system of claim 9, wherein the sling includes a hanger at thelower end of the body of the sling and the hanger provides means forenabling the water reservoir to be hung in an inverted position to drainwater from the water reservoir.
 17. A juvenile bathing system comprisinga bathtub, a child support including a water reservoir adapted toreceive water and a spray system in fluid communication with the waterreservoir adapted to selectively spray water from the water reservoir,the water reservoir including a backrest adapted to support a child, andmeans for orientating the child support in the bathtub in one of areclined position or an upright position.
 18. The juvenile bathingsystem of claim 17, wherein the means for orientating the child supportcomprises a first mounting member on the water reservoir, a secondmounting number on the bathtub, and a third mounting member on thebathtub, the first mounting member of the water reservoir is adapted tomate with the second mounting member of the bathtub to position thechild support in the reclined position, the first mounting member of thewater reservoir is adapted to mate with the third mounting member of thebathtub to position the child support in the upright position.
 19. Thejuvenile bathing system of claim 18, wherein the first mounting membercomprises an anchor, the second mounting member comprises a first socketadapted to matingly receive the anchor, and the third mounting membercomprises a second socket adapted to matingly receive the anchor. 20.The juvenile bathing system of claim 19, wherein the first and secondsockets each include a generally spherical segment and the anchorincludes a generally spherical segment configured to mate with andcouple to the generally spherical segments of the first and secondsockets.
 21. The juvenile bathing system of claim 19, wherein the firstsocket comprises a forward socket and the second socket comprises arearward socket.
 22. The juvenile bathing system of claim 17, whereinthe means for orientating the child support comprises a pair of anchorson the water reservoir, a pair of forward sockets in a side wall of thebathtub, and a pair of rearward sockets in the side wall of the bathtub,the anchors are adapted to respectively mate with the forward socketswhen the child support is in the reclined position, and the anchors areadapted to respectively mate with the rearward sockets when the childsupport is in the upright position.
 23. A juvenile bathing systemcomprising a water reservoir including a chamber adapted to receivewater and a back rest adapted to support a child and a spray systemcoupled to the water reservoir and configured to spray water from thewater reservoir.
 24. The juvenile bathing system of claim 23, whereinthe water reservoir includes one or more anchors adapted to selectivelyposition the water reservoir in one of a reclined position and anupright position.
 25. The juvenile bathing system of claim 23, whereinthe water reservoir includes a fill port and an outlet port and thespray system includes a sprayer coupled to the outlet port and a pumpcoupled to the inlet port.
 26. The juvenile bathing system of claim 25,further comprising a pressure-relief valve in communication with thewater reservoir.
 27. A juvenile bathing system comprising a childsupport including a backrest and support means for supporting thebackrest in multiple bathing environments.
 28. The juvenile bathingsystem of claim 27, wherein the support means is adapted to support thebackrest in a juvenile bathtub.
 29. The juvenile bathing system of claim28, wherein the support means comprises a standoff coupled to thebackrest, the standoff includes a support leg adapted to form a notch,and the notch is adapted to receive a rim of the juvenile bathtub. 30.The juvenile bathing system of claim 28, wherein the support meanscomprises one or more mounting members coupled to the backrest, themounting members adapted to releasably couple the backrest to a sidewall of the juvenile bathtub.
 31. The juvenile bathing system of claim27, wherein the support means is adapted to support the backrest in anadult bathtub.
 32. The juvenile bathing system of claim 31, wherein thesupport means comprises a standoff coupled to the backrest and thestandoff includes a support leg having a foot portion adapted to besupported on the rim of the adult bathtub.
 33. The juvenile bathingsystem of claim 32, wherein the child support includes a waterreservoir, the water reservoir includes the backrest, and a lower end ofthe reservoir is adapted to rest on the bottom of the adult bathtub. 34.The juvenile bathing system of claim 27, wherein the support means isadapted to support the backrest in a sink.
 35. The juvenile bathingsystem of claim 34, wherein the support means comprises a standoffcoupled to the backrest and the standoff includes a support leg having afoot portion adapted to be supported on the rim of the sink.